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"The Only Shot of
Beckinsale Not Covered
in Lycan Blood..." |
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Directed by Len Wiseman
- Story by Len Wiseman
Starring Kate
Beckinsale, Scott
Speedman, Bill Nighy,
Derek Jacobi
Distributed by Screen
Gems / Lakeshore -
2006 - 105m - Rated R |
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Better than the original... |
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The
first "Underworld" was visually spectacular but suffered from a
confusing storyline and obnoxiously relentless sound effects and
music. It was dizzying. However, I enjoyed it enough to smack it with
my "tweener" grade of C+.
By all accounts, this sequel should have been a dismal failure. Why?
Well, first of all, it is a sequel. By reputation, sequels are
typically worse than their prequels. Secondly, this is an
action-fantasy that relies heavily on special effects. That's usually
not a genre where you find consistent quality. And last, but not
least, the original was merely okay... Somewhat entertaining but
nothing particularly memorable outside of Kate Beckinsale
splendiferously filling leather outfits like no other actress can. I
can honestly say that I didn't expect to give "U:E" anything higher
than a C or C-.
So, I found it quite a pleasant surprise to walk out of this theatre
experience completely satisfied. I had fun. I saw Katie Becksie and
her outfits. I got a reasonably coherent plot that emotionally
involved me enough to care about the outcome. The effects were quite
cool to behold. The ice-blue lighting and cinematography as a whole
was quite breathtaking. There was a love story that began to blossom.
And the ending, while also setting up a third in what will assuredly
become a series, felt complete.
I still find it amazing that the delicate, corset-wearing English
rose, Kate Beckinsale as Selene, can kick as much Lycan ass as she
does in these films. Before the original, I had the distinct feeling
that she was going to seem out of place. She doesn't. She owns this
film and this series, firing weaponry like it was second nature and
fighting like she could teach Bruce Lee a thing or two. Fine... We all
know that there are some incredible effects helping her out and that
her stunt doubles are stepping in to do the hard bits. But she pulls
off this type of role far better than the more appropriately equipped
Angelina Jolie in the disappointing "Tomb Raider" series. She puts
Milla Jovovich's character in "Resident Evil" to shame. And she even
holds her own with the classic female action hero, Sigourney Weaver's
Ripley from the "Alien" series. The tie-breaker... Beckinsale is
hotter.
This film's plot is, yet again, pretty irrelevant in the grand scheme
of things. Vampires hunt Lycans. Lycans eat Vampires. Vampires and
Lycans create a hybrid. An ancient tale of brothers divided between
the species is the engine that drives the action. And the future of
both species is at stake and lies in the hands of Beckinsale and Scott
Speedman, who returns as the hybrid super-breed. Whatever!
The romance occurs between Becks and Speedman and features one of the
more erotic love scenes you'll have the distinct pleasure of seeing in
2006.
What are impressive in this sequel are the action sequences and the
gothic and graphic images. This film definitely steps the gore up to a
new level. The creatures are shown in full detail, basked in that now
familiar icy blue light that director Len Wiseman is so fond of using.
The entire film is shot in a slightly desaturated black, white and icy
blue palette casting shadows on spectacularly moody locations.
The action scenes are impressive. I consistently complain that what a
lot of bad directors do during actions scenes, to cover up the fact
that they have no idea what they are doing, is to use ridiculously
quick cuts, unintelligible close ups, distractingly loud music, and
introduce dust, smoke and fog to hide the details of the shots. Len
Wiseman is utterly unafraid to show the details... confident that he
has done his job well enough to show you all his tricks. Some of the
actions scenes are even slowed down so that the audience can see, in
even more detail, what is happening. Rarely did I feel disoriented
during one of the action scenes in "Underworld: Evolution".
All in all, this film was thoroughly entertaining. It was shot with a
cool visual flare and took enough breaks from the action for us to
catch our breaths and learn a little more about the characters. But
mostly, this film gives us what we want and expect... Kate Beckinsale
blasting a quadrillion bullets into the chests of hideous creatures
while looking sublime doing it.
It doesn't deserve an A grade because no film like this should ever
warrant that kind of praise. But it is as good as it possibly could
have been considering the genre, and that makes it a successful and
worthwhile trip to the multiplex. |
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© Written by TC Candler |
Richard
Propes' Comment
n/a
Jacob
Hall's Comment
n/a
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